Winter Wind
by xwinter.phoukax
Summary: "No one believes in the wind." The bitter truth settled on her heart and froze it just like the lake they stood upon. Note: So! I just got a copy of Rise of the Guardians. I should be updating this story sometime either this week or after MTAC (March 28th-April 1st). Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me.
1. Awakening

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sídhe. Everything else belongs to DreamWorks.

Just a quick note and a bit of backstory:

I've been meaning to start this project since I saw Rise of the Guardians, but never had the inspiration until Twisted Skys posted "Riding Untamable Winds" in their ongoing series "Invisible". If you haven't read it, look it up.

Sídhe Castell (pronounced "she'd") is the spirit of Wind in this little drabble. She lived in the same village as Jack when they were alive. Tell me what you think.__

Set before the movie. Part one of the Somber Silence arch. Soundtrack: Louder than thunder by Devil wears Prada, Fairytale by Enya and Lullaby by Creed. Sídhe plays Muir Eireann (The Irish Sea) - Tin Whistle (youtube) _during a flashback._

Then: Sídhe _  
_  
_Crack._

The sound breaks the silence of the snowy woodland in the most agonizing way.

"Jack," a young girls' alarmed voice screams.

Breathlessly running toward the sound, the cool weather bites at my lungs. They begin to seize up. Clenching pain assaults my chest, but I can stop. Not now. Not when they need me…

Breaking into the clearing, I don't stop to think. There's no time. The water is frigid as I dive in after the auburn haired wonder that had lit up my life.

~flashback~

"It's fine, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you," the lanky boy smiled at the blonde girl who was half hidden behind her mother.

"Go on, Sídhe… go play," her mother said, then smiled when the timid girl reached out to take Jack's hand. While her daughters' health had always been frail, she knew this would be good for her.

The two children ran off to meet Anna, Jack's sister, and the other village kids. Between playing hide and seek and watching Jack fight off the "evil beasts", Sídhe and Anna never stopped smiling.

~end flashback~

Darkness fills my vision and I try push back to the fear that is creeping into my heart. Suddenly, my lungs give out. The dark water around me floods into them. I see his cold face just inches from my fingertips, but there's nothing I can do… nothing. The crushing weight of the word destroys any hope that lingered. The world I knew faded into pitch black.

Now: World view_  
_  
Cold. Breathless slumber under the iced lake would have seemed endless, if not for the Moon. Its silvery rays warmed the young girl who had all but frozen in the crystalline waters.

Whispers echoed around her, swirling around the frigid lake that had become a prison. For a time, their meaning was lost. Sorrow was her only companion. Loss the only thought echoing through her mind.

_'I failed them. I failed Jack…. when he needed me most,'_ guilt ransacked her thoughts, making the soft whispers seem meaningless.

The whispers grew louder until grief was washed away. Soothing thoughts found themselves chasing away the loneliness. Pale green eyes fluttered open to see the bright full moon through the ice. The thin layer between them began to crack. The current lent its strength, propelling her frozen body to the surface. A gentle breeze broke the perfect silence above the lake and carried the girl skyward. For a moment, the Moon's glow was all that mattered. The bright light shattered the darkness completely.

A man's voice reverberated in her mind, _'This is your second chance… your defining moment. Use it well.'_

Slowly, the wind calmed down and sat the luminescent child down on the lakes' surface. The breeze had dried the sky blue dress the girls' mother had made on the way down. It helped remove the frigid water from her frail lungs as well. She coughed in response to the unfamiliar feeling and watched as her frozen breath was exhaled as a cloud of white. It was then that she noticed how remarkably chilly it had become. Stranger still, while the girl noticed the arctic temperature, it didn't bother her in the slightest. Glancing back up at the Moon through her long white hair, she pondered. There was something important still under the ice. A question mulled in the foreground of her thoughts.

"Why me?" she asked the Moon feebly, and then looked back down at the ice, "And why not him?"

_'All in good time,' _the man's voice countered.

The wind swirled around her. She extended her right arm at its request, confused until the breeze deposited her oaken staff into her outstretched hand. Tears welled in her eyes as she pulled it close.

Then: World View

_"Jack," Anna squealed in delight, "Let's play hopscotch!"_

Jack grinned and pulled a friend along by the hand. The pale girl smiled, and then side stepped to avoid walking into a sheep. She knew he was supposed to be minding the herd, but was thoroughly distracted. Keeping up with Anna was no easy task, after all.

"Wait up, Anna," he complained lightly, twirling the shepherd's crook with a laugh.

The two older children made their way through the sheep to the top of the hill. The girl let go of Jack's hand to climb the boulder on the hill's crest. She pulled a set of tin whistles from her satchel after sitting down and began to play Muir Eireann. Jack knelt in front of Anna and pretended to be winded.

The little girl pouted, "You're getting old, Jack. Soon, you'll be just as slow as daddy!"

As if on cue, Anna spotted the burly man walking up the hill with a staff. She shrieked in mock horror and scaled the boulder to hide behind the older girl. Jack stood quickly and tried to mold his flustered face into absolute innocence. His father saw straight through him.

"Jack," the middle aged man started while trying to hide his own grin, "What have we told you?"

The boy opened and closed his mouth several times before stuttering something incoherent. His father cracked up, laughing at the hysterical sight.

"Take care of your sister… but minding the sheep is also important, son," his father snickered.

It took them a minute to stop laughing, but once they did, the older man walked up to the boulder. Anna poked her head around the girl's side, and then ducked behind her again with a giggle.

"Now where could me wee darlin' be?" the older man asked as a playful smile danced across his face. He propped the staff up against the rock.

The pale adolescent sat her whistle down at the end of her song, "I wouldn't know, Mr. Andersen."

Anna looked over the girl's shoulder and smiled innocently at her father. Mr. Andersen extends his arms. Without moment's hesitation, Anna launched herself off the boulder and into her father's arms. He held his bonne lass close as he mock waltzed a few steps. Setting her down, he smiled and gave Anna a small nudge towards Jack.

"Go on, you two. I want a word with our young piper," he nodded to Jack, who led his sister off to the flock, and looked back to the girl, "Your mother and my wife have been talking all day and just recently let me and your father know what about. Maggie and Sina told us they would have our hides if we let slip the nature of those talks to anyone other than you, my dear."

The teen's eyes twinkled with joy. She knew where this was headed; her mother, Maggie, had asked for her approval weeks ago. It had taken her some time to come to terms with what her mother had asked. She still had some slight reservations about the talks and more than a few issues with even thinking the word marriage.

Mr. Andersen picked up the staff and studied it for a moment before handing it to her, "This was the other half of the sapling that I used to make Jack's crook. I thought it would be an appropriate, if early, gift."

The girl took the staff, admiring its gnarled top where the roots once were, and spoke with the upmost sincerity, "Thanks so much."

Now: World View

The wind helped her stand and pulled her into the open air. The whispers flew with her. They told her how to ride the currents and keep her balance.

After several falls to the ice and flying into trees, the girl finally got the hang of coasting with the wind. It seemed intensely happy to have a new playmate. So much so that it gusted some of the snow into the air. The girl laughed, a sound like silver bells, and used her staff to cause the flurries to fly higher. She felt the Moon smiling over her as she played through the night.

Eventually, the wind led her over the town of Burgess. The sun had just risen over the mountains, cascading its downy light on the sleepy town. There were a few townsfolk who had begun their day early enough to discover the new layer of snow on the ground.

The girl drifted down among the people. She was eager to show them what wonders had found her in the moonlight. She flitted among them, but none of the people she had grown up with seemed to see her. The girl had the wind carry her directly in front of the local baker.

"Hello?" she said uncertainly.

The baker looked past the girl he had spoken to only a few days before and then walked _through_ her. The wind sensed her pain; the heart wrenching sensation that afflicted her entire body. It tried to carry her away to the lake, where it knew she wouldn't be walked through again. She asked it to do something for her instead.

The girl was in a state of panic by the time the wind set her down on at the house she had been born in. Her mind buzzed with millions of questions, but the Moon wasn't there to explain this. Inside, her family sat around the fireplace wearing black shrouds. No one was speaking or moving. Then her mother stood up. Even through the glass, she could see the tear stained face and hunched shoulders that marked the once proud woman.

"We will all mourn the two children whom we lost this past week," the aged woman said, her voice thick with emotion that could never be named, "My daughter, Sídhe, and her dear friend Jack, who drown in the lake."

The world fell away and nothing mattered in that instant except the crushing weight of knowledge. She and Jack had… died? The wind picked up, carrying her and screaming the emotions the girl knew she couldn't face. She wasn't aware of the storm brewing over her head nor the rain as it began to pour. All the girl knew was uncertainty.

Burgess faced its most extreme weather since its foundation nearly one hundred years ago that evening. Acute wind damage plagued the town accompanied by bouts of hail. The wind heard the pleas of the frightened villagers, but listened only to the young girl who had taken refuge in the higher altitudes.

"Zephyr, take me to the lake," Sídhe mumbled to the breeze, half asleep in its caring embrace.

The storm had sapped her, unknowingly, of her strength. Zephyr borne the young spirit to the frozen lake and lay her down on a low hanging thick tree branch. It whispered to her through the trees. The rustling of the branches sounded like a lullaby. Belatedly, she fell into a deep, dream-filled slumber.

In her dream, she felt something… different, as though someone was trying to speak to her, but would not use words. Instead, visions of wheat fields lay before her and even the dirt had taken on a tawny hue. A summer wind blew through the field she stood in. It played in the crops, making them wave akin to the oceans' ebb and flow.

Ocher daoine sìth, the Fair Folk, rose from the grain and danced around Sídhe; a haunting melody hung in the wind. From their midst, a short, blonde man appeared. His gravity defying hair made her giggle. He wore a strange suit made of what looked like sand and a smile that made her worries fly away with the fey. His silence was different than what she had encountered before; it was merry and comforting. For the first time in a long while, Sídhe felt something stirring within her. It took several minutes to recognize the emotion as hope.

As the dream faded, Sídhe was befuddled. The image of the strange little man floated beside her on a cloud made of golden sand. It took some time before she realized that what she was real. When she did, her curiosity piqued.

"Who are you?" she asked tentatively.

Several small images formed from the sand above his head; an hourglass and a diminutive sleeping child, then a golden moon.

She was remotely lost until he showed her the moon. Lune had told her about a group of beings who protected the children of the world. He had called them the Guardians and one of them was master of dreams.

"You're Sanderson… the Sandman, aren't you?" she asked. Her apprehension was suddenly replaced by a coy smile.

Sanderson nodded, and then turned to pick something up from his cloud of sand. He held up a piece of hail with some difficulty; it was the size of the Wind spirit's head. A question mark appeared above him. Sídhe started to answer, but couldn't bring herself to say the words. Even so, the Guardian understood. Actions spoke louder than words; the lamenting look in the young girls eyes was enough to explain everything.

_Afterward: I'll eventually get this right. My Muse decided to visit while I was sick... *rolls eyes* happy days._


	2. Meeting North

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sídhe. Everything else belongs to DreamWorks.  
_  
Set during the movie, I think._

Lonely barely began to describe how Sídhe had felt over the course of the month after she had broken out of the ice. The Man in the Moon, whom she'd taken to calling Lune, would whisper to her occasionally. His words of comfort were feeble in comparison to the aching pain in her heart. Even though Jack was with her, she was alone on the frozen lake.

Sídhe's mother had told her that ghosts were once people who had died with unfinished business. Maybe that's why no one could see or hear her. She really had died. Sorrow welled in her heart to the point where she almost missed the soft ringing of… bells?

Wiping away the bitter tears, she looked skyward just in time to see a sleigh fly across the moon's visage. Sídhe told the wind to keep up with Jack while she was away from the lake. She picked up her staff and stood up, feeling the wind rise with her. The sleigh was slanting down as if to land in Burgess. The wind lifted her off the ground and let her soar to the unusual sight. Sídhe kept an eye on the strange flying thing, dodging through the trees and around snow covered rocks.

By the time she had flown to the sleigh, its driver was stepping out. The man was one of the tallest she had ever seen in a bright red coat. Dual scimitars were almost invisible under the black fur trim. The wind carried her cautiously as she pressed forward. The man hefted a large red sack from the sleigh while she flitted closer. He paused when the wind ruffled his white beard and turned to look straight at her.

"What have we here?" he asked in a thick Russian accent. There was warmth in the smile he gave Sídhe, "A little winter sprite?"

"You… you can _see_ me?" Her voice wavered as she nearly fell out of the air.

"Of course, little sprite," North said carefully, then he asked, suddenly curious, "How are you flying? The wind isn't usually so fond of sprites."

"Lune says I'm not a sprite, but something more," her emerald eyes sparkle with delight, "I _am_ the Wind." Sídhe flew around him as the breeze picked up.

"Lune?" the Russian laughed heartily at her enthusiasm.

Sídhe tilted her face skyward and floated another foot away from the ground. North watched her and looked in the same direction. The midnight moon hung above their heads, glowing brightly. He shrugged. It should have been obvious, but the name had caught him off guard. She eventually looked back down to North with the saddest look in her eyes.

"It's been twenty-seven days since I woke up again. Lune's always been there. He's been the only one who's spoken to me, the only one to believe," she paused as a silent tear slide down her luminescent face, "Until tonight."

North stepped forward and pulled Sídhe into a much needed hug. She frozen for a moment; the wind completely stopped for that instance. And then the moment was over. The young girl melted into North's warm embrace.

"No one should cry on Christmas Eve," North said as he sat her down. A merry twinkle shone in his eyes, "You were a child before this. Sídhe Castell, the young mystery of Burgess. I have something for you."

Sídhe looked lost, and at that instant confusion turned into delight, "Wait. Are you North? _The _Nicolas St. North?"

"Of course," the Russian chortled, "And I have something for you."

The wind giddily picked Sídhe up again and carried her about a foot off the ground. North sat his crimson sack down once more and dug through the gifts until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a long silver wrapped box, and then offered it to her. Curiosity glimmered in her eyes as she took the gift. Unwrapping the box was a bit of a hassle because the wind was trying to help. In the end, Sídhe was at the center of a silvery cyclone. She asked the wind to leave the wrapping in a small pile before the shreds ended up all over Burgess. It complied, calming itself enough to do as she requested.

Sídhe opened the white box to find several items. The first of the three items was a fine, ice blue cloak with a white fur trim. The second was an ankle length, long sleeve dress made of the same materials. The last was a choker with seven small charms. She looked closely at each of them. There was a snowflake, a full moon, an Easter egg, a pine tree with little ornaments, a hummingbird, a golden cloud and an intricate silver symbol that reminded her of the breeze.

"How…" a lump formed in her throat. She swallowed before trying to speak again, "I don't understand."

"Lune told us about you," North beamed at the spirit of the wind, "If you ever need any of us, just call. We will hear."

Sídhe had to let North help her lace up the choker and wore it proudly. North excused himself afterward, saying that there were many gifts to deliver before the night was done. She waved as he walked to Burgess after leaving a small note on one of the gifts. Sídhe hoped that Pippa would understand the six words she had written on the child's gift.

"You've got to believe in me."

After that day, Sídhe was never seen without the outfit the Guardians had made for her.


	3. Belief

_Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sídhe. Everything else belongs to DreamWorks.  
Note: This is a brief continuation of Meeting North. Sorry for hopping around like this. I wanted to say thanks to those who've read this and I hope some of you keep reading. Send your thoughts my way if you want to see something specific. Merry Christmas, everybody!_

Soundtrack:  
Don't Stop Dancing by Creed

~Then: Sídhe~  
_Sídhe had to let North help her lace up the choker and wore it proudly. North excused himself afterward, saying that there were many gifts to deliver before the night was done. She waved as he walked to Burgess after leaving a small note on one of the gifts. Sídhe hoped that Pippa would understand the six words she had written on the child's gift._

"You've got to believe in me."  
  
~Now: World view~  
Christmas dawned over the sleepy little town of Burgess like most ordinary mornings. Children were heard joyously waking to find merrily wrapped gifts beneath their trees. All but one young, mousy girl who had refused to leave her room until her mother had brought an emerald wrapped box to her.

"Pippa. Pippa, dear… do you know what this means?" Her mother was looking at the elegant script on the gift. She sat it down next to her daughter.

Pippa looked at the box with tear stained eyes. She hadn't slept very well; this was her first Christmas without her older brother, Jack, and it felt wrong. Still, when she saw the six words so carefully inscribed on her gift, she dared to hope that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance things could turn around.

"Jack," she sniffled, "H-he told me that right before the ice broke."

Her mother was both appalled and horribly curious. Why… no, how was this possible? She had no time to ask anything else. Pippa had suddenly sprung up and gotten dressed. The young girl grabbed her gift, and then sprinted out the door toward the lake. She wanted answers; answers that could only be found where her brother had supposedly died.

Sídhe had been playing with Jack and Zephyr all morning. The wind had been kind enough to not flip her new dress' skirt. It had, however, insisted on playing with her cloak briefly. The breeze asked her numerous questions about the night before; it hadn't been paying close attention because Jack had decided to try free falling on a whim. She told Zephyr about North, the unusually cheery Russian, and about the message she had left for Pippa. It wondered if the note had been the wisest idea. The Wind spirit didn't have time to answer. Jack's sister had made her way to the lake's edge.

Sídhe took refuge in what had become her maple tree. She knew that this would be no simple event for the siblings; therefore, she resigned herself and told Zephyr to play elsewhere for the time being. It would be hard enough for Pippa to understand without the blithe breeze distracting her from what was truly important. The Wind spirit's attention turned back to the scene below her.

Several twigs stuck awkwardly from Pippa's hair from where she had run through the woods. It would have been comical, but the child's expression was far from humorous. Tears streaked down her face and dark bruise-like marks lingered beneath her eyes. Desperation clung to the little girl in a way that no living being should have to suffer. Even still, it took several minutes for Jack to notice her. It wasn't until her voice broke the silence that he turned around.

"Jack? Jack, are you there?" Pippa's voice faltered from exhaustion.

The spirit of Winter would have fallen to the lake's surface if Zephyr hadn't caught him. He floated to Pippa's side, yet didn't dare to touch her. Sídhe knew what it was like to have the delicate illusion of belief shattered; he was just as afraid as she had been when he had come back from the ice.

"I'm here," he breathed, "I'll always be here."

"The others said you were dead," Pippa paused and fresh tears fell as she stepped out onto the ice, "That can't be right. Who else would have left this?"

Jack followed her, strengthening the ice beneath their feet as they walked to the middle of the lake. He looked at the note left on the box when Pippa sat down. Distant memories plagued him for a moment; the memory had faded almost into oblivion.

"You have to believe in me," he read aloud.

Pippa's head turned to look at Jack. The siblings' faces were mirror images of shock. She reached to touch Jack's pale face. Her fear made her hesitate; her hand stopped a mere inch from her brother. What if this was just another daydream?

_'No,'_ she thought desperately, _'This has to be real.'_

Sídhe waved her staff ever so lightly with a kind smirk. The wind picked up just enough to push Jack and he fell forward into Pippa's touch. His face lit up with brilliant smile that put the suns' light to shame. Jack pulled his little sister into a hug. Pippa hugged him back and started crying again. Tears of joy soaked into Jack's shoulder.

"I know they were wrong," Pippa sobbed, "No one else knew… about that day."

Jack wasn't entirely sure how to feel. Pippa had suffered alone, which hurt him to no end. Then, she had believed in him… she could see him again. And yet, one small thing bothered him worse than everything else.

"Pippa… that's not my handwriting," he admitted.

The little girl looked up and wiped away the tears with a sniffle, "What? Whose is it?"

Sídhe lamented that the siblings couldn't see her. She wondered if either of them remembered her at all. Her curiosity was laid to rest when Pippa spoke up once more.

"It does look a lot like Sídhe Castell's…" Her voice tapered off.

"You don't mean the blonde girl, who used to play with us, do you?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, but that's impossible too," Pippa said, and then continued when Jack looked completely befuddled, "She dove in after you when the lake ate you."

Jack's face contorted with pain; the sweet white-haired girl from their youth had died on his account. For a time, neither of them said anything. Zephyr had shown up once more and was more than dumbfounded. It had no idea that it would return to Sídhe to see Jack in tears.

"No one believes in the wind anymore, Zephyr," Sídhe sighed.


End file.
